'A gust of wind came up' before mooring 'snapped'

Mr Seaman, who was due to take the 7:30pm journey across Bass Strait, said the noise of the impact took passengers by surprise.

"I was listening to the radio so I didn't hear it myself, but talking to people here they said that it just sounded like steel snapping, like rockets going off, and then the boat started to move around," he said.

"We were lined up to board the vessel and then a gust of wind came up and all of a sudden it appears the moorings snapped on the boat and it turned around on about a 90-degree angle.

"The damage to the gantry looks pretty severe, so what will happen from here no-one knows."